The dream of the 90s is alive in Residual Kid

Members of Austin band Residual Kid aren’t old enough to buy a beer. Or cigarettes. Or even drive a car. But they are definitely old enough to rock your face off.

Pulling heavily from ’90s alt rock and grunge influences, this three-piece creates a massive, ear-splitting sound that has no business being as evolved as it is when you consider the fact that band members range in age from 13 to 15. Despite being middle-schoolers, Residual Kid is far from child’s play. This band creates a righteous ruckus that is powerful, intense and unraveled in the best possible way. Fans of Nirvana and the Pixies will be particularly enamored of Residual Kid’s grungy intensity when the band plays another of Purple’s tour kickoffs this weekend at Tequila Rok.

In a way, it seems unfair to bring age into the equation. Even if I knew nothing about this band, Residual Kid would have caught my attention with the beautiful, ragged simplicity of their sound. But it’s impossible not to be impressed by how cohesive that sound is for a band of this age.

I interviewed the band — 15-year-old Deven Ivy, 14-year-old Ben Redman and 13-year-old Max Redman — as they rehearsed last week in Austin. Here’s what they had to say about their city, their influences and playing to a room of drunk adults:

Q Can you give me a brief history of Residual Kid?
A We (Ben and Deven) met at a summer rock camp in Austin in 2009, then started jamming with Max after that.

Q It seems like you have a pretty good following in Austin, but it’s such a jam-packed music scene in that city — was it hard, at first, to find a place for yourself in a city so inundated with live music?
A There are lots of bands in Austin, but there are also lots of venues. The music community here has been really supportive. We’ve become friends with many of the other musicians and they’ve really helped us.

Q What bands does Residual Kid draw the most influence from?
A Wavves, A Place to Bury Strangers, Pixies, Jay Reatard, Dandy Warhols and Jay Z — not necessarily in that order. A lot of the time, we show each other music that we find. We also discover music by going to shows.

Q What are your favorite shows to play – rowdy late nights in bars? Short and sweet festival sets? Benefits?
A Probably playing bars with drunk people, because they tend to like us.

Q What kind of hurdles do you face as a band of underagers trying to book gigs in 18+ or 21+ venues?
A It’s usually not an issue for us in Austin, but in other cities it can be difficult, especially when we want to hang out to see the bands we’re playing with.

Q You haven’t put out an album since your 2012 EP Faces — any plans for a new record?
A We have a lot of new material and we got plans, yo.

Q What has been the most exciting, surreal, I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening-right-now moment for Residual Kid?
A We played in Denver this summer at the Underground Music Showcase and it was just incredible. We played three packed shows and people were recognizing us on the streets. We’re going back to play in October.

Q Anything else we should know about Residual Kid?
A Ben can write metaphors, and sometimes similes. We skateboard when we’re not playing music.